Ortrun Enderlein
 Ortrun Enderlein at the German Luge Championships, in Oberhof, 14 February 1965 |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's luge | ||
Representing  Germany
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| Olympic Games | ||
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1964 Innsbruck | Singles |
Representing  East Germany
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| Olympic Games | ||
| Disqualified | 1968 Grenoble | Singles |
| World Championships | ||
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1965 Davos | Singles |
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1967 Hammarstrand | Singles |
Ortrun Zöphel-Enderlein (born 1 December 1943) is a former East German (GDR) luger, and one of the most successful lugers in the 1960s. Enderlein started her working career at the SC Traktor Oberwiesenthal, and was first introduced to luge in her home village of Raschau in the Ore Mountains. In the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, she became the first female luger to win gold at the Olympics. and won the World Cup in 1965 in Davos and 1967 in Hammarstrand. The athletic achievements of the lugers Thomas Köhler and Enderlein were celebrated and politicised in the GDR during the Cold War when the GDR was not recognised by West Germany, and athletic events in either part of Germany with athletes from both countries were not permitted because of the Hallstein Doctrine.
The controversial disqualification of Enderlein and two other GDR sportswomen at the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, involving the alleged heating of runners before the race start, was believed by GDR officials to be a staged incident against the first official GDR luge team. After her sports career, Enderlein worked as a sales engineer and later presidium member of the Luge and Bobsleigh Association of the GDR and member of the National Olympic Committee of the GDR.
Ortrun Enderlein was born to forester Willy Enderlein and Hertha, née Müller. Her father came from Hammerunterwiesenthal, part of Oberwiesenthal, and worked mainly in Reichstein, Oberwiesenthal, Mittweida and Trünzig. After World War II, the family relocated to Raschau in the Ore Mountains. Her older brother is motorcyclist Klaus Enderlein.
Enderlein trained as a mechanic in the Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) Meßgerätewerk Beierfeld, where she was also active. During her sports career she completed a distance learning course in mechanical engineering with a focus on manufacturing engineering. She later worked as a sales engineer in the VEB Meßgerätewerk Beierfeld. She is married to Bernd Zöphel, the former manager of KUKA Werkzeugbau Schwarzenberg GmbH.
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